The lab was pristine, just like everything else in this building. There was a large, reclining surgical chair in the center of the room, and the far wall had three massive screens with the Neurovance logo on them.
On a small table next to the chair was a white, wireless device. It looked like a wand, and when Jay picked it up, a soft, glowing green light emanated from the tip.
“If you would like to volunteer, choose‘yes’on the poll that was sent to your Nexus app,” Jay instructed, and everyone hurried to do so.
Jay didn’t even review the results before his warm gaze landed on me.
“You’re up, Milo,” he said, and I did my best to ignore the annoyed scoff from Melanie.
“Lie down in the chair, please.”
Forcing myself to ignore the two dozen sets of eyes on me, I scrambled forward and climbed into the large chair. I was quivering with anxiety and excitement as Jay stepped forward, reclining the chair into a fully horizontal position beforesettling behind my head.
All the hairs on my body stood on end as he gently brushed my hair back away from my forehead.
His fingers were warm and gentle, and all I could smell was his woodsy cologne as he addressed the room.
“This is a NeuroExtractor 3.0. I’m sure most of you have read the product monograph on it. It’s patented by Neurovance and is the first of its kind. We have a ten-year patent that prevents competitors from emulating this technology. However, once that runs out, we’ll face a competitive landscape for the first time. This is why you’re here. Over the next four years, Neurovance aims to advance this existing technology, moving beyond mere extraction and intomanipulation.We’ll talk more about that later.”
I could barely hear what Jay was saying, as he seemed to be playing with my hair mindlessly. Each time he stroked his fingers across my forehead, one of my stubborn little cowlicks seemed determined to defy him. He’d brushed it back out of my eyes several times now, and all I could think about was how good his fingers felt as they skated over my scalp.
“Are you ready, Milo?” he asked softly. His words whispered over me, and I did my best to pretend it wasn’t doing all sorts of inappropriate things to my insides.
The last thing I needed was to make more of a fool of myself, so I clenched my fists at my side and nodded.
“Yep!” I squeaked. “Ready!”
Jay chuckled and pressed the wand against my left temple.
The device made a beeping sound, and the light switched from green to yellow as he ran the tip of it up from my temple to my forehead and down the other side.
Moving just my eyes, I glanced at the screens on the far wall as they too lit up.
The Neurovance logo disappeared, and the screens filled with what looked like a complicated cloud of numbers and strange symbols. As Jay slid the wand over my head, different numbers and symbols on the screen were highlighted.
“This is how thoughts and memories are translated. We call them NeuroGlyphs. It’s a language of sorts, and requires extensive training to read and understand the script.
“I’m certified in NeuroGlyph translation, as are all memory therapy technicians. As memory therapy researchers, it’s not mandatory that you learn how to read NeuroGlyphs, though we offer free courses on Thursdays for those interested in learning.”
Everyone oohed and ahhed as Jay continued to run the wand over my head, showing the room how my thoughts and memories were being translated.
“Now, the trick is to dig through the thoughts to get to the memory in question. Usually, the patient is asked to bring the memory they want extracted to the forefront of their mind to make it easier for the technician to pinpoint the right one.”
Jay stroked my hair again with his free hand and leaned in close to my ear. I shuddered as his hot, minty breath tickled my lobe, and my toes curled in my vans.
“Do you have your memory ready, Milo?” he asked, his deep, velvety voice teasing me with each syllable.
I swallowed and nodded. “Y-yeah. I have it.”
“Okay, bring it to the front of your mind.”
Closing my eyes, I replayed my first few minutes on campus, when I’d been knocked over by the hoverboard commuter.
The memory swam behind my eyelids.
I thought about how I’d felt so embarrassed going down, and how I’d been even more mortified when I realized the hottest man I’d ever seen in my life witnessed the whole thing.
A man who was now myboss.
